Letter: Tar sands' risk 'as serious as it gets'

Opinion

Letter: Tar sands' risk 'as serious as it gets'

Monday, January 27, 2014 at 9:00 am

It is extremely important that all residents of South Portland and the surrounding towns are aware of the calamities we face if we sit back and allow tar sands-related products to pass through our area.

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I am grateful that our City Council has helped us begin the process to keep tar sands out of our pipelines forever. We must work with them as a united front. The oil companies would have us believe that their handling of tar sands is as safe as their handling of crude oil coming from other sources. There have been incidents that prove this wrong, and the results of these oil "accidents" are still being addressed, with people and natural elements being horribly damaged.

Pure and simple, cleaning up after an oil spill is never pure and simple. Tar sands being transported through pipes is, without question, riskier than any of us needs to allow. We live in a wonderful community where children should grow up thriving. None of us should have to worry about oil from ruptured pipes polluting our water. This is as serious as it gets. We need to be paying attention and doing everything we can to make sure the moratorium on tar sands in South Portland never ends. I love living here, and hope all of you do, too. We must keep our working waterfront healthy and busy!